


Death God to Ghost Hunter

by Foxfire_at_dawn



Category: Bleach, Ghost Hunt
Genre: Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, first attempt at writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:35:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26414269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxfire_at_dawn/pseuds/Foxfire_at_dawn
Summary: In the two year time gap after the final battle with Aizen, Ichigo encounters a lone Mai, having been recently orphaned and unable to cope, he found her listlessly wandering the streets. They bond and now Ichigo has a new younger sister. /fic starts in GH episode 2/ Its my first time witing pls be nice/
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

_ "Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name." _

_ The splash of water could be heard through thin wooden walls. _

_ "In the beginning, there was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was in the beginning with God." _

_ A faint knocking started along the walls and a soft creaking filled the room. _

_ "All things were made by the Word, and without the Word was not any thing that was made. In the Word was life; the Word was in the world, and the world was made by the Word, and the world knew not the Word. The Word came unto his own, and his own received him not. But to as many as who received the Word gave he power to become sons of God. Which were born, not of blood…" _

_ "John!" The voice of a young woman called out. "Hurry, the ceiling is coming down _

_ Just then the wood began to warp and crack, caving in on itself and splintering outward. _

* * *

Moments before it completely broke a second voice called out, loud commanding, and distinctly male.

"MOVE, MAI!" Only instinct saved the girl from colliding with a speeding body much larger that her own, as they tackle the motionless priest across the room and out from under the imploding wood, curling protectively around the smaller male and shielding them from any debris.

Then it all came crashing down.

"JOHN!"

When the dust settled, two bodies could be seen safely tucked away against the wall opposite to the entrance.

"John! John, are you alright?" Callous though it may seem, the moment she recognized the voice of the one who called to her, she knew not to worry for them and to instead let herself worry more for her new foreign friend.

"Calm down Mai, he's fine, and you should be more concerned about the amount of dust you just inhaled." The smooth baritone of the new arrival, rising from the rubble like a Phoenix from the ashes, a fairly tall young man with shocking orange hair, not much older than Mai, helped the still shocked exorcist to his feet and guided him back to the entrance.

"Come on, let's get out of here before the rest decides to fall too."

"Right."

* * *

**_Later when everyone gathered to assess the damage_ **

"If Mai's friend hadn't got to me when he did, I would have been in real danger." John explained, nodding gratefully the red headed teen.

In the middle of the room, illuminated by flash lights, lies a pile of wood missing from the ceiling above closely being examined by a different teen dressed completely in black.

"Maybe it's best if we pulled out of here for tonight." He suggests peering up into the room that no longer has a floor. "Mai, you can go home."

"Really?" "Yes"

Words of agreement were exchanged by everyone.

* * *

The next day upon arrival to the old schoolhouse Mia and her friend found Shibuya Kazuya, commonly refered to as Naru, and the teen who wears black, asleep in the trunk of a van filled with equipment and records.

"Naru! You slept out here? You're going to catch a cold!" Mia scolded the young man, surprised to find him in this state. Absently noting the slight shadows around his eyes.

He grunted, blinking blearily up at Mai. "Is that you Mai?" Naru raised a hand to rub at his eyes, glaring lightly. "What do you want this early in the morning?"

"M-morning? It's already past 11 o'clock."

"Hey there. What's up your lab?" A new voice called out. John and two others had just walked up. The tallest and the one to speak,Takigawa Hōshō, a buddist monk, waved lightly to the two at the van, the third stood a little way off, staring blankly at the schoolhouse.

"What is it, boy? Going to leave already?" The second person, Matsuzaki Ayako, a shrine maiden, asked rhetorically, condescension dripping from her posture.

"Yes I am." Came a monotonous reply, disregarding Ayako's tone and stature to answer honestly.

"You mean you're running away because you can't handle it? That can't be right."

"There's nothing there." A sudden voice, familiar to John, interrupted the exchange.

"Come again?" Ayako turned to ask, irked to be contradicted by someone she's never met. "And you are you, anyway?"

"My name's Ichigo Kurosaki, and there's nothing in the school house."


	2. Part 2

_ “My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and there’s nothing in the school house.” _

“Excuse me?” Taken aback by such a blunt response. “And how would you know that?” Ayako was sceptical, and her tone somewhat accusing.

“Hey now, don’t be rude Ayako. Everyone has their opinions, let him explain.” The Monk scolded Ayako for her attitude and for dismissing Ichigo so quickly. He turned and nodded to the orangette, prompting him to speak.

Ichigo turned to fully face the group, putting his hands in his pockets he explained,“the building is old, weather and actively falling apart. Not to mention if you noticed when you walked up, the ground is soft, not exactly the best place for a building to stay upright.” as he spoke he returned to his place at Mai’s side.

“He is right, last night I compiled the results of all of my measurements. This is the graph of my survey levels.” Naru turned the laptop to face every one, numerous charts were displayed on screen. “The old schoolhouse sank 0.2 inches overnight.”

“What?”

“Its subsidence.”

“So, what? You’re saying that was the cause of all of those strange phenomena?” Ayako was still sceptical.

“This whole area is reclaimed swampland. When I looked into the distribution of well that were once in use, I found that there was a large waterway that passed directly underneath this school.” Naru continued to explain his research. “But when I checked the wells around here, they were mostly dry.”

“Which means....” Mai was still confused.

“There's a pocket of air beneath us, all the weight of the building is shifting the ground to fill it.” Ichigo told Mai, attempting to answer her questions.

“Correct, the ground was weak to begin with, and the water has dried up, so if it's hollowing out underground, naturally anything above it will sink.” Naru expanded on Ichigo’s statement.

“So then, the chair moving and the ceiling collapsing was all caused by the ground sinking?” 

“Yes. The floor of the classroom at the eastern end where the ceiling collapsed is three inches lower than the west end.”

Mai raised a finger to her chin,” three inches is…”

“About 7 ½ centimeters, huh?” The mock and shrine maiden shared a look.

“Then what about the rapping noises? Ayako wonder aloud

“Probably the sound of the building warping.” Naru stated as he closed the laptop. “We should have the area around the old school declared off-limits. This building is going to collapse before long.” Everyone turned to look at the condemned structure.

* * *

“This can’t be! Then what attacked me?!” Naoko Kuroda, a self-proclaimed psychic, questioned Naru while he was wrapping up the cables for his various monitors set up at their temporary base.

“If it really happened then maybe it's the work of a floating spector that was following you.” he said as he walked away to put the cable into some boxes.

“It was real! I really was attacked!” She shouted back at him.

“Are you really leaving Naru?” Mai asked from the door the rest stood behind her watching the budding conflict.

“Uh-huh. The job is done.”

“I see. I guess it is, huh?” Despite Naru’s assessment she still had doubt on the supposed completion of the case.

Behind Naru, Kuroda’s glasses glinted ominously. ”There is a spirit here, really.”

“No. The outcome of my investigation was completely blank.” Naru rebutted her instantly.

“Maybe you just can’t tell if it’s here, right?!” Kuroda refused to be dismissed so easily

Naru turned back to her “then you can drive it out. If you do have spiritual abilities, that is. I’ve decided that my work here is done, so I'm leaving.” he went back to putting away his equipment.

Mai looked down at the floor and fiddled with her hands. “It kind of feels like the dream is over. Here’s an old building in the corner of the school, which really seem to have something about it-stories about it having ghost, and all-there’s a certain sort of romance to it, isn’t there”

“Mai.” Ichigo calls from behind her. “Sometimes it's best when an old building is just an old building.” The others made sounds of surprise, having forgotten that he was there. “As for you,” he turned to Kuroda, ”maybe it would be best for you to stop making something out of nothing if you want people to at least pay attention to you.”

“Oh yeah? And what would you know? I bet you’ve never even remotely experienced anything paranormal.” she sneered at him, angry at yet another person refusing her claims.

Mai gasped, suddenly feeling a bit of pity for Kuroda, because she knew the next words out of Ichigo’s mouth would be scathing. To John and Monk, who were closest to him the room suddenly felt heavy, like there was a weight pressing down on their shoulders.

"Yeah so, to be honest I'm grateful. If I never see a spirit again I would be happy, and its people like you, that use the dead to get attention, that I hate most. Taking advantage of what others can't do just for your five seconds of fame!"

Mai called his name softly, she could feel the pressure building up around him.

Then it happened, the windows exploded and Kuroda screamed.

The building suddenly came alive with activity, lights flickered, doors slid back and forth on their tracks, and loud bangs could be heard from every corner.

“Ichigo, calm down, you’ve got to stop!” Mai yelled at him, remembering a time when she was younger not long after they met and Ichigo had saved her from some thugs, she remembered something similar to this happening back then.

“This isn’t me!”

“The knocking sounds! Another one of Tisane’s poltergeist conditions!” John exclaimed

“Naru!” But he wasn’t paying attention, Naru was looking at the sliding door as they moved erratically.

“This is really dangerous!

“Everybody outside! It’s going to collapse!” Naru shouted. But with the way the doors were moving anyone who tried would get hurt.

“But Naru, the doors!”

“I got it!” Ichigo yelled, round-house kicking them off their tracks. “Alright everybody out!”


	3. Part 3

_ “But Naru, the doors!” _

_ “I got it!” Ichigo yelled, round-house kicking them off their tracks. “Alright everybody out!” _

* * *

"Are you okay Kuroda? You're bleeding. Let me see your hand.” Mai and Ayako took a moment to fuss over Kuroda. “It’s okay, the cut isn't deep.

“What was that? And don't try to feed me that sinking theory again. That was a full on poltergeist wasn't it?!” Monk was agitated, he was so ready to believe that everything “paranormal” in the building was really just because it was old. And he’s had his own fair share of bogus cases, the floor creaks ‘cause its weak sir, the scratching you hear at night is that tree next to your window ma’am, but to completely disprove a spirit and have it nearly bring down a building is something else.

“That sound wasn't just the creaking of an old building, something was definitely banging on the walls.” Ayako couldn’t help but to add her two cents.

John continued softly, “That means we’ve already experienced four of the nine criteria laid out by Tisane.”

“That just goes to show that you can’t depend too much on technology. For a minute there I was actually about to believe you and your phony results.”

Monk put his hands behind his head. “Stick around Naru, and you’ll see how the true professionals do things.” He and Ayako turned and walked away. “Maybe it's time for someone to go back to school.” She threw over her shoulder one last time.

“What’s with them? I haven’t seen them do anything productive.” Mai was a little miffed at the way Monk and Ayako just ganged up on Naru like he did something wrong.

“Calm down Mai. Let them do their thing, and if they get any results then let it be.” Ichigo wasn’t all that stressed over the situation, if a bit curious. He knows that there’s nothing in the old building, but something is affecting it and he wants to know who and how. He spares a glance over at Kuroda, who’s been oddly silent through this whole thing, he would have thought she’d be all over this at least to prove she wasn’t lying, but no she just stood there watching quietly.

“I’d appreciate it, if you left me alone for a little while.” Naru’s voice rose then fell, shoulders more tense than a bow string about to snap. “I’m so mad at myself I could throw up.” he walked back to his van, but before he was out of earshot Ichigo called out, “Naru!” The black-clad teen stopped walking. “There is nothing in the old schoolhouse, something else is wrong here!”

Naru’s head moved slightly, giving the barest indication that he heard, and continued walking.

* * *

_ Night time in the old school house _

“You're not going to watch the monk’s attempt with the rest of us?”

“No I’m not” Mai was still a bit irritated.

“Hey what’s up Mai?” John’s voice asked from her left, ”You mind if I give you a hand?” Smiling softly he offered up the cords he was holding. At the face of such innocence, Mai softened immediately, “Oh no, I’m okay I'm just taking a few things out.” Ever the gentleman, John persists, ”Then please allow me help you, I insist,” and picked up the mic she had wanted to move, but Mai was resistant, "really I’d rather do it myself.”

From the doors Monk and Ayako watch on in amusement. “Are you still buying your boss’ explanation?” She asked. Mai, reminded of her irritation, glared lightly. “Do you have any proof that he’s wrong? If so, then let’s hear it. I’m all ears over here!” And Ayako’s smirk fell away. The two women just stared at each other for 1...2...3 beats.

“Quiet down would ya.” Ichigo interrupted the little glaring match as he walked in carrying a box of microphones and their attachments. “The building’s already unstable, we don’t need you two to make it worse, alright?”

“What about you? Are you going to stay and watch?” Ayako was a bit weary about the boy, first he comes out of nowhere in the middle of an investigation, contradicts anything said about the spirits haunting this place, and just floats around like some sort of spector, and she can’t but feeling judged about the way he watches everyone but Mai. She made a note to question him later.

“Nah, there something I’ve got to do so I’ll see you tomorrow Mai.” Ichigo waved on his way out.

“I’ve just set the microphone up on the second floor.” Despite her initial reluctance, Mai eventually gave up and let John help her. “Thank you but, you know I can do this stuff myself right?”

“Oh, no worries Mai. Anyway, I’m gonna look around a bit, see if I can find any more clues.”

“Hm, well be careful.” she said softly. Mai was beginning to doubt her decision on staying to wait for Naru while he was off doing whatever it was that he was doing.

The front door clicked shut. “Naru?!” But when she saw who it was she was disappointed, “Oh, hey Kuroda.”

“Any news?” Wow no greeting or anything, straight to the point.

“Uh, right the monk and the others are making their rounds right now.”

“What about Kazuya?”

“I don’t know where he is. Ah man, are there really any spirits here?

“Yes, I saw them.” Kuroda was really pushing this ghost thing. Mai was just complaining, but Kuroda must be really invested in the spirits here.

“Oh I know, you’ve made that clear, several times.

“Well they’re not here anymore” Interrupted Ayako, “the expulsion was a success.”

“Yeah we’ve all heard that one before.” Mai glowered at Ayako, making a dig at her first failed attempt. “Well this time I’m sure of it.”

“They’re still here. I can feel them, in fact there are many spirits trapped here.” Kuroda’s voice was ominously low, like she was telling her own ghost story.

“Are you still pretending,” Ayako couldn’t believe that this little girl, kept insisting that she was psychic and could see spirits and that Matsuzaki Ayako, a legitimate shrine maiden, didn’t have the power to exorcise some measly earth-bound spirit. “Give it a rest, we’re the professionals here.”

“Unless I’m mistaken you haven’t done anything.”

Monk was making his way towards the group, with John in tow. “We’re good now. Ayako’s effort may have been a complete failure, but mine wasn’t.” The monk was confident in his spirit expulsion abilities.

“Excuse me!” And Ayako was indignant..

“Well it is true, isn’t it?” Now he was just teasing her. “Don’t take credit for my work.” ”Same to you.” “Get over yourself.”

“Would you shut up!” Mai was over this, the constant bickering from these so-called adults was grating on her nerves.

“Shhhh” John shushed them. “I hear something.” He was looking up and everyone else did too. It sounded like someone walking. “Someone’s here.” Thank you Ayako, for stating the obvious. “I know.” It kept getting closer and closer, just to suddenly stop at the top of the staircase and Monk, the idiot, took off after it.

“Are you nuts?!” Mai was shocked, because who in their right mind would run towards potential danger. “Do you see anybody?” But she was curious too.

“Nope, must’ve imagined it.”

“That’s crazy, all of us? I definitely heard something. You heard it too, right monk?”

“It was just the wind.” Ayako couldn’t even convince herself of that statement.

Mai was angry now, “I am sick of this. You didn’t get rid of them either did you? After what you said to Naru this makes you look so stupid. I don’t remember Naru ever coming up with any lame excuses, do you? Funny how the adults are ac-” In the middle of Mai’s speech, knocking started, much louder than earlier footsteps.

“It’s back!” Then all the lights lining the hall blew out and everyone had to shield their heads from the falling glass.

“This is the most activity we’ve seen yet.” 

“It sounds like there’s more than one. It's too dangerous here, let’s get outside.” Monk’s words prompted everyone to move, but he was most worried about the two highschoolers.

“I’m right behind you. C’mon Kuroda, follow me.” Mai was the first to move. Unfortunately, being first wasn’t the best for her. Before they could get to the front doors, the two of them ran past a pair of trembling wooden lockers. The next thing Mai knew, was the sound of her name and that the locker felt warm, and then she lost consciousness.


	4. Ichigo's Interlude

_**Just after Ichigo left Mai** _

_Stupid, stupid, stupid. You idiot, absolute moron._

Just out of sight from Mai, Ichigo considered banging his head on a wall. When he lost his soul reaper powers he promised not to get involved with the dead ever again. Period. Not even to talk and help them move on, he wanted zero interaction, he even went as far as to move to a different district. And now, despite his best efforts, he’s somehow gotten mixed up in a ghost hunting group. Resigned to his fate of never being free, he sighed miserably. “The hell am I gonna do now? I can’t just ditch Mai any run away, what if something happens?”

Thinking back on his knowledge of ‘vengeful’ spirits, the Don Kanonji Incident rose to the forefront of his mind. “Yeah no. that’s not happening again.” Honestly, who in their right mind would deliberately aggravate an angry spirit, nevermind brandishing a glorified cane as a weapon against it. Moreover, what dumbass decided “Oh, what’s this? A spirit? Wonder if I can make money off this? What if I televise it? I bet the people would love that.” Really, he’d love to meet them. Then his thought circled back to that Kuroda girl and the exploding windows. When she tried to attack him for not knowing anything, there was a weird energy spike, the same type of spike you get when feeling cornered, and then, like all things, the energy lashes out. If he remembered correctly it was the energy spike, the windows exploding, the lashing out, and then the knocking and doors moving. If Ichigo were being generous, he’d say that he had enough experience with spirit energy to pin down how she made all of that happen with how weak it felt. But unfortunately, he's not so he can’t. All he can really do is watch and try to determine for himself what’s really going on, and maybe do a little research.

A few hours, a coffee, and six different browser tabs later, Ichigo had a rough idea of what ghost hunters do and that there were quite a few blogs/forums dedicated to it. Apparently, ghost hunters travel the world investigating supposedly haunted locations. Put simply, their job is to support the existence of the paranormal. And, there’s a group of people who specialize in paranormal research separate from ghost hunting, like ESP and PK-- Extrasensory Perception(ESP) is a sixth sense for gathering information without physical stimulation, like sight, smell, taste, sound, and touch, and psychokinesis(PK), supposedly, is the ability to move things with your mind. The problem is, Ichigo has no idea how to handle this information. He knew that his definition of spirit energy is different from a spirit's energy, he just didn't know how it translates. He's own theory is that PK is using spirit energy to effecr the Living World, and ESP is connecting to the Spirit World. But are spirits souls, like he used to deal with, or are they a lingering conscience like everyone thinks? Is spirit pressure just presence, or is it some kind of influence? Are spirits small masses of energy, or memories with too much emotion? And apparently PK has three sub categories: PK-LT, PK-ST, and PK-MT. The users, commonly referred to as psychics, can affect living targets, static targets, and moving targets respectively. Honestly he thinks any soul reaper with high enough spiritual pressure could be classified as PK-ST(floating rubble) if they were actually alive. _Wait a minute, does that make me a psychic?_

_**A year ago** _

Nearly a year after he lost his powers, feeling nostalgic, Ichigo took a stroll along the river. He thought of all the mischief and mayhem he and his friends got up to, the first time they invaded the Seireitei, running from the Cleaner and navigating the maze of the Gotei Thirteen, their trip to Hueco Mundo meeting Nel, Dondochaka and Pesche, and their giant friend/pet eel, Bawabawa.

Then he thought of the rough moments, fighting Kenpachi and Byakuya for the first time, his rematch with Grimmjow, losing control against Ulquiorra. The final fight with Aizen and his training in the Dangai.

Losing his powers. Ichigo mourned the loss of the Old Man and the Hollow Bastard, and he accepted it. No more hopping from building to building looking for stray Hollows, no more competing to see who could take down the most. He thought of everything he went through for the sake of protecting his friends, and he knew that he would do it again.

Lost within his memories, Ichigo didn't notice he followed the river all the way into another district. He estimated himself to be about 30 minutes outside of Karakura town, somewhere on the northwest side of Tokyo. He was apparently walking through a suburban area with old houses that looked like they could use some fixin’ up, unconsciously zeroing in on to a miniscule amount of spirit energy, he continued through the neighborhood until he caught sight of a lone bench, conveniently positioned under a street light, and a young girl. It appeared to him that she was doubled over in pain, but her energy was rolling with inner turmoil, infected with grief, and plagued with crushing sadness. Ichigo choked up for a moment when rain flashed in his mind’s eye, shaking the memory from his head, he stepped up to her, vaguely trying to project comfort from his voice and body language. “Hey,” He spoke softly, the cold air biting at his extended hand, “Come on, a lonely bench is no place to cry. Especially when it's this cold out.”

The girl looked up, “W-who are you?” Hiccuping through her words. “What d-do you wa-want?” she was shivering.

,“My name’s Ichigo. What’s yours?” She sniffed, trying to stop her tears enough to speak clearly. “Mai, my name’s Mai.”

“It’s nice to meet you Mai.” He smiled at her. “What do ya say we go somewhere warm, yeah? You’re gonna catch a cold if you stay out here.” “Ok.”

And they left, Ichigo took the young girl to the nearest open cafe and in a few hours helped her come to terms with her grief, he told her that it was okay to be sad, that it’ll hurt for a long time before it gets better, that even if the world seems to be crumbling down into a heaping pile of ash, happiness can be found again, and that it was okay to share the grief with someone else even if just for a little while. He told her that just because someone has passed away, it doesn’t mean that they’re gone forever, it just means that they live in the hearts of their loved ones now. He told her of his own experiences, of a time before his soul reaper days. They spent hours just talking, and by the end of the night it was like they’d never been strangers to begin with.

** Potential parts of the story yet/plot points to get to/things to remember/dynamics to explore/ideas to add **

1\. To the one person who was curious, I don’t plan on having mai fall for Ichigo, in my mind she was a teenager too much like his sisters to be romantically interested in. I mean Mai is literally yuzu and Karin in one person, like she’s soft in the quiet sort of “you can bullshit all you want, but I’ll give you a chance to explain yourself”, like Yuzu, and then she’s the “enough of this crap, let’s get this done so everyone’s safe and we can leave”, like Karin.

2\. And I’m seriously considering taking the whole story down just so I can revamp it to publish later, like wtf was I thinking, I’m a highschool student, what business do I have tryna write fanfiction, when I can’t even get my thoughts in order. So I apologize to anyone who got invested as I will most likely spend my time ignoring this.

3\. Back to #1 Ichigo seems to me like the tough love type, so he’ll be present for most investigations like, the "winchester” mansion, Doll House, I’m not a Dog, and the Shrine case *i can’t remember the name right now*

4\. Alright, Ichigo has lost ALL of his offensive power, he can't fight the ghost, but he can see them and effectively send them on their way using his remaining spirit pressure to give them a little senkaimon, he just doesn’t know that’s what he’s doing, he thinks he’s just talking them into leaving.

5\. Ichigo’s mellowed out ALOT, he no longer has the power to protect his friends, so it’s understandable that he would be a little more reserved. (This DOES NOT include the fights he gets in because of his hair, that shit’s funny as fuck, and i refuse to believe otherwise). I also think that without hollow fights and shinigami business to drag him away from school he could very well achieve top 15 or maybe even top 10, instead of his constant top 25 (I think at one point he was cannonly #23 in his class)

6\. Of course with mai loving ghost stories, Ichigo tries to limit her attempts to actually come in contact with a ghost.


	5. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so, I know my story isn't the most original thing on the planet, I'm trying alright, but I really want to do some thing with this and i made plans for the more "original" content to start in the second case, since the first few chapters were just me introducing Ichigo and the "new" Mai because spending any length of time with Ichigo will change you. That being said, thank you to everyone who commented and kudoed. Really means a lot to me.

_Mai awoke to a hand brushing aside her bangs, bleary eyed and lethargic. “Naru? Guess you’re back huh.” Her eyes widened with a gasp. “After you left the poltergeist came back worse than it was before.” Now that she was seeing clearly, “Naru,” despite his gentle smile, was flickering slightly, like he couldn’t hold a solid form in her eyes. She could just barely see through him and into the blackness behind, it was then she noticed the orbs floating up from below. “What is this? Where are we? What’s going on?” She grunted in pain and held a hand to her forehead._

_‘Naru’ laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, “Go back to sleep Mai.” She wanted to protest but the words died on her tongue, instead she defiantly stayed up and looked him right between the eyes, “what’s with you? You’re acting strange.” A droplet of water reverberated from somewhere behind her as he continued to smile softly. “Ya’ know you’re even more handsome when you smile.” Lucky for her those words never passed her lips._

_“-ai! Ma-! MAI!” Ichigo’s voice echoed through her skull. Frantically she whipped her head in search of the source, but instead of laying eyes on a familiar face she zeroed in on an orb a little bigger and darker than the ones she’s seen so far, “MAI! WAKE UP!”_

“Mai, wake up!” Monk called. Looming over her was him, John, and Ayako. “Looks like she’s gonna be okay guys.” _What the heck was that?_ Mai was at a loss, confused beyond belief. “Hey Mai, how ya’ feelin?” Monk prompted. “We were really worried.” While she was grateful, Mai really needed some answers, like now. “You were out for quite a while, it’s already four o’clock in the morning-”

“But did Naru ever come back?” She cut him off, luckily it didn’t sound rude.

“Oh. uh no. He didn't.” Mai closed her eyes in though, _if he didn’t come back then it must’ve been a dream._ She sighed softly, _I should have known better. No way he would smile like that to a stranger._ Mai refused to acknowledge the feeling in her chest after Monk’s confirmation. Moving on Mai asked where Kuroda went. She wasn’t supposed to see that she was at home, in fact it would do Mai some good if she went home too, since the exorcisms haven’t been successful.

Ayako spoke with her brows creased with concern. “At this point it’s possible that our own safety is at risk.”

Genuinely curious, Mai asked if Ayako was running away.

“Need I remind you that it was _your_ boss who ran away first? He probably went home and cried himself to sleep.”

“That is ridiculous, and totally uncalled for. I saw him when he left, he knows something, him and Ichigo both.”

“Oh yeah? Then are they? Care to share with the rest of the class?” And as if on cue Mai’s phone rang. She didn’t even take a moment to check the caller ID. “Hello? … Oh hi, we were just talking about you… Me and Ayako… We’re arguing about Naru… Hehe yeah, I know... HUH? How in the world do you know that?... As a matter of fact, why are you up in the first place?... Yeah yeah whatever, I’m not a kid any more jeez… Ok fine, I will… See you later?... Yep, I got it… Bye-bye.” Then she hung up; the whole time Mai did not break eye contact with the older woman, daring her to say something. “Ichigo will be here in a few minutes. If you have questions I suggest you ask him then. Besides Naru’s probably doing research like he was before, cut him some slack.”

“Yeah,” Monk agreed, “if you think about it, it is kind of our fault he left in the first place. I mean we did gang up on him yesterday.” Of that, Mai was skeptical. “Maybe he’s at home,” John spoke up, “making straw effigy dolls of each of us, powered by his unbridled rage.” The funny thing about John’s morbid curiosity, was that Naru could very well be doing that and they don’t know him well enough to protest on his behalf.

“What’s so funny?” Asked a voice from behind Monk, who whipped around in surprise. Met with nothing but a blank stare he waved it off. “Never mind that, you mind telling me what happened?” It would have been a fairly innocent question, if he weren’t scowling with the force twenty disapproving mothers. “Ugh, well-- You see, well-- The thing is--” after several false starts, Monk found his voice, “I had just finished performing the exorcism, when we heard footsteps on the floor above us, and I went to check it out, but there was no one there, so we thought nothing of it. That’s when the light went out and the noise started, and it was dangerous to stay so we ran out here.” He finishes quickly, nervously avoiding Ichigo’s eyes. But Ichigo wasn’t having it, “is that all?”

“Yep, that’s all.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely.” Ichigo moved to stand in front of Mai.

“So nobody was harmed?” 

“Nope”

“Stop lying you're bad at it.” He said over his shoulder. “Now tell me what happened.” He said to Mai. Twiddling with her thumbs she told him, “Monk is telling the truth. It’s just while we were running away a bookcase fell on me.” She didn’t think it was possible but Ichigo scowled harder, and she was quick to reassure him. “I’m fine though, you don’t need to worry.” Sighing heavily, Ichigo dropped his scowl. “If you say so. Just call me next time.” Trying to lighten the mood, Mai gave him a mock salute, “Sir, yes sir.”

“Whatever ya’ brat. Go home and get ready for school.”

Back at the school, Mai was greeted by her friends rushing you to her demanding details. Apparently Kuroda was bragging to the class about what happened last night in the old schoolhouse. And of course she was surprised to hear that Naru called the two of them asking about it, and even asking more about Kuroda. The girl has been a mystery since before middle school. “Kuroda, Mai, you’re wanted in the principal's office.”

**In the Principal’s Office**

Monk, Ayako, Masako, John and two empty chairs were already seated around the principal’s desk, with Naru standing at the window. “Ok, this makes up about everyone who’s been involved with the case thus far. Mai, I want you to call Mr. Kurosaki and tell him to come here.” Recoiling slightly she refused. “I can’t do that, he has school too. He can’t skip just because I asked him too.” Crossing his arms, softly he said, “we’ll just just make due with what we have then.” Then louder he said, “this should only take a few minutes.” and closed the curtains, blacking out the room. Then he turned on a weird device that steadily pulsed red light, and asked them to focus on it. Almost immediately Mai felt herself get sleepy. “Match your breath to the pulse of the light.” Naru instructed. “Now very slowly relax your shoulders, and start counting your breaths, nice and deep.” 1...2…...3……...4………...5…………....6……………...7………………

“ _Tonight the chair on the second floor of the old school house will move, and tomorrow we will all meet in the laboratory”_ Then she fell asleep….. Just in time for it to be brutally ripped away from her by Naru flooding the room with sunlight.

* * *

**Ichigo Interlude**

Ichigo was in the middle of filling out some forms for reduced school hours so he could work more often and still get credit for class, when out of nowhere a chill creeps up his neck. His instincts, or whatever’s left of them, are tickling his brain, something weird is about to happen. It’s just a matter of when. “Ichigo Kurosaki?” The desk lady asked.

“Yes.” 

She smiled approvingly. “Your paperwork seems to be in order, and if there are no future problems you can have your permission slip within the next three to five days.”

Sighing in relief, he thanked the woman and left. “Have a good day ma’am.”

* * *

**Back at the schoolhouse**

Mai found Naru sitting in the back of his van outside the building. While he complimented her on her insight to put a mic on the second floor, she brought up the bookcase that fell over. “I remember you saying that objects affected by a poltergeist heat up. Well, when it fell on me the last thing I noticed it was warm.”

“G’day Mai” John greeted as he approached the two. “John.” 

“Now let’s get started.” and a few minutes later found John and Mai hammering plywood to the windows and doors of a classroom, effectively sealing away it’s contents: a chair and a camera. Exhausted and ready to leave, Mai complained about her arms, But Naru had another task before she could go. “Both of you take this and sign your name on all the boards.” While they were doing that, Naru put up a paper on a seam where two boards meet. “Now sign the paper and then you can leave.” When Mai asked for the point of all this, he said they’ll find out tomorrow.”

Let’s say sleepless nights are a pain in the butt, but hey Ichigo was willing to listen.

**Tomorrow**

With the “team” gathered outside the lab Naru asked Mai and John for confirmation that their signatures hadn’t been tampered with. With their go ahead he took a crowbar and began tearing down one of the plywood boards. Once the board was gone he stepped aside to let the others see the chair stationed there the night before. Mai saw it first and tensed up with a gasp. The chair was no longer in the chalk circle it had been placed in, but flat on its back against the wall opposite the door. After reviewing the footage it became clear that a poltergeist had moved the chair. What other option explanation could there be?

“I will be concluding the investigation here.” And of course, Ayako was skeptical. The boy said the same thing before the sliding doors and the knocking she demanded he explain himself. “All of the issues presented by the principal can be explained by ground subsidence, however when we encountered our poltergeist, I went ahead and did more research. When my scientific investigation and Ms. Masako’s readings came back clear of spiritual activity, something stuck out to me after we fled to the outdoors.” Then he stopped and turned to Mai. “Your friend said ‘something else is wrong here’ and that got me thinking. He knew that I wasn’t wrong, and I knew that Ms. Masako wasn’t wrong, and there was nothing else that could be doubted except Kuroda’s credibility.” He turned to Kuroda this time. “Right from the start we knew you were just trying to impress us.” Venturing farther into the room he set the chair upright and rested his hand on the back. “Poltergeists are usually a form of latent mental powers, spiking during periods of high stress and lashing out on their surroundings, that’s why there are so many reports of them every year, to test this I place a hypnotic suggestion into each of your heads. I told you that the chair would move before we met here.”

“The light in the principal’s office.”

“Correct, it situations like this that method has never failed to produce results. In this case the poltergeist is of human origin, as they can be created by individuals craving attention. Hypnotic suggestions can become reality to this type of person." They all knew who he was referring to.

The girl in question spoke."So.. You're saying this is all my fault?"

"When we met you claimed you could see spirits, however there was no evidence to support your claims. By conducting this experiment I determined that Kuroda is the source of the hauntings.”


End file.
